Summer Fun: Beaches, Pools and Taxes!

If you got married in June, in addition to thank-you notes, give some thought to the IRS to make filing your taxes easier:

• Report any name change to the Social Security Administration.
• Notify the United States Postal Service, your employers, and the IRS of any address change. To officially change your mailing address with the IRS, complete and submit Form 8822, Change of Address.

How about summer camp? If you’re sending a child to camp, the cost may count toward the child and dependent care credit. Now that’s something you never thought about but, hey, a genuinely good idea!

What about business travel? It never stops just because it’s summer. When you travel for business reasons, whether for a few nights or all summer long, remember the tax rules related to business travel.

Work and summer: summer part-time work to help pay for college and incidentals. Even though your kids may not earn enough to owe federal income tax, urge them to file a tax return anyway and get any refund they may be owed. Seasonal workers can also visit IRS.gov to learn whether filing a tax return is necessary.

Summertime is for fun — and also, sometimes, for working a side hustle or doing gig work. Visit the Gig Economy Tax Center at IRS.gov to see how gig work can affect your taxes — or those of someone close to you. If you and your friends and family are reimbursed through payment apps for services during the year, you all should know that IRS Form 1099-K may be in your future. And if you want to know more about why or what to do with it, go to IRS.gov/1099k.

Consider your home

Summer is a very big time for home improvements — you probably can hear some nailing, power washing and/or lawn mowing as you read this. If you decide to make qualified energy-efficient improvements to your home, or you did already, you may qualify for a tax credit of up to $3,200. Claim that credit for improvements all the way through to 2032.

Energy-efficient home improvement credits include putting in a new water heater, changing exterior windows and doors, and installing heating and air-conditioning systems. Residential clean energy credits also are available for installing solar water heaters, fuel cells, battery storage, and solar, wind and geothermal power generation. Visit the Home Energy Credits page on IRS.gov to learn more.

Of course, this is just a summary of complex tax provisions. Be sure to discuss the details with your tax adviser. Meanwhile, here’s to enjoying a fun summer and keeping tax thoughts in the background. You never know, it could be fruitful come tax season.